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Abstract

Health economic aspects have been increasingly
important during introduction of new treatments for
multiple sclerosis. As a partial response for Norway, a costof-
illness study was carried out to estimate the yearly cost
of the illness to society and relate costs and patients’
quality of life to illness severity. Estimated cost to society
was Euro 439 million in 2002 exclusive of the cost of
reduced quality of life. The cost per patient was close to
Euro 65,000. Account taken of methodological differences,
the results compare to results for Sweden, Norway’s closest
neighboring country. The illness reduced patients’ quality
of life with 0.26. More patients were early retired because
of their MS in Norway than in any of nine other European
countries comprised by a recent European study, illustrating
a liberal practice in Norway. The Norwegian cost of
unpaid assistance was almost identical to the Swedish cost
that was the lowest found across the countries in the
European study. When related to illness severity, the cost
per patient increased, and the patients’ experienced quality
of life decreased with increasing EDSS levels in line with
what has been found for other countries. Cost-of-MS
studies have been carried out for a number of countries.
Together they contribute to our understanding of the economic
consequences of multiple sclerosis and, if their
results are related to illness severity, also provide valuable
information for further economic analyses of treatment and
medication. Our study adds to this.